


Lockdown

by mk10



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-07 23:33:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7734076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mk10/pseuds/mk10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During a call to an abandoned prison, one of the team is injured badly just as the ghost has placed the building into lockdown.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cold

The Ghostbusters were called about an aggressive spectre hold up at their former place of residence, which also happened to be the place of their death – South Side Hospital. The now abandoned hospital slash prison on Ellis Island was huge, crumbling and home to a now very angry ghost. The city did hold the occasional hard hat tour, so this needed to be dealt with swiftly.

So, here they were, entering the giant cell block. Abby took point. She led the way as Patty followed close behind, looking up at the catwalks above. Erin was behind Patty. She was peering into the cells they cautiously walked past. She shuddered.

“Creeped out yet?” A voice came from behind her.

She turned behind to see Holtzmann walking backwards. A smart move, the scientist thought.

“Yes. Incredibly, actually. It just feels... wrong here, don’t you think?”

“Oh, yeah. Most definitely. So very wrong... but it would, wouldn’t it?”

Erin was about to ask what the engineer had meant, but Patty spoke up.

“Hell yeah! This is the place nightmares are made of. Get this Erin...”

She turned to face the scientist.

“This is where immigrants were kept before they were either let into the country or sent back to where they came from. Coulda been for days, some for months.”

Abby took this opportunity to really take in how big this place was.

“That means overcrowding, sickness, and just general unpleasantness.”

“My guess,” Erin turned back to Holtzmann. “,is that our new friend wasn’t too fond of this place either.”

The blonde turned around to face the rest. “How’d he die?”

Abby stopped walking, causing the rest to halt also. She turned to face her team.

“He was beaten to death.”

“Lovely...” Holtzmann fake smiled. “But don’t worry guys. I’ve won the last four out of five bare knuckle boxing matches in my division so as long as you’re with me, this ghost doesn’t stand a chance.”

There was a silence, followed by confused looks from her fellow busters. Patty was the one to break it.

“Holtzy, what the f-“

But before she could finish, a streak of blue came rushing down from up above.

“There he is!” Erin called out.

With that, they each reached behind and activated their proton packs. They simultaneously fired on the blue spectre. He was fast. 

He sent them running after him. He glided over and around the catwalks above, making it hard to get a good shot on him.

“Damn! This dude is fast!” Patty yelled as she was beginning to lose her breath. 

She heard a loud screech causing her to spin around just as fast. She just managed to catch a glimpse of the proton stream coming from Holtzmann’s pistol making contact with the ghost’s shoulder.

“Nice shot, Holtzy!”

The ghost was hit and in pain, but not down as he continued to fly above them. The stream wasn’t able to keep hold.

“Dang it! Lost ‘em!” Abby muttered in frustration.

Erin spun on her heel to face behind her, looking back through the huge cell block.

Holtzmann was a little further back and was quietly surveying the huge, cavernous room, doing her best to spot him.

Patty looked up above them to see if he was hiding above, but there was no sign. Erin couldn’t see him in any of the open cells. Abby could tell from the amount of space he had to roam and the speed he was able to fly even when damaged, maybe catching him wasn’t an option.

“Guys, I think this one needs to be stopped permanently.”

Patty asked “You mean I get to use my chipper again? Oh hell yeah!”

Erin grinned to herself at Patty’s excitement. She always loved how much the historian enjoyed being a part of the team. But before she could finish her thought, she heard a noise.

The sound of all of the cells simultaneously closing along with the main entrance. He had put the place into lockdown.

“Uh oh...” Erin muttered to herself and looked back to the rest of the team.

“Oh, man. This isn’t good.” Abby.

There was silence. The four of them were still. Nothing happened for a little while.

“So, how about them Mets?” Holtzmann broke the silence.

“Holtz, do you really think now is the time to-“ Erin began, but was interrupted by a loud shriek.

All of a sudden blue appeared from up high and was now coming towards them at an alarming rate. The ghost rocketed towards them as Patty clumsily reached for her ghost chipper. Abby couldn’t bring herself to move in the seconds it took for the blue spectre to reach them. 

“Eat chipper, ghost!” Patty yelled as he lunged past Holtzmann and Erin. There was one more shriek as the blue dimmed and the screaming stopped. Patty turned to see Abby covered in blue.

“Well, this is exactly what I wanted to happen. Thanks Patty.”

Erin jumped up and punched the air. “Yes! Finally, I’m not the one to get covered in ectoplasm!” 

The historian laughed and dramatically kissed her contraption.

“I love this thing man! Yo, Holtzy! C’mere, lemme give ya...”

Patty stopped as she saw both Abby and Erin looking behind her with odd expressions. She turned to the engineer who had her back to them. She was still.

“Holtz?” Erin asked as she approached the blonde.

She reached her friend and gasped.

“Oh my God...”

Holtzmann was looking down at her own stomach which now had a blue, ghostly shiv embedded into it. Blood was trickling down her suit. She dropped her gun as her knees buckled and she collapsed. Erin just about caught her.

“Holtzmann!” Abby cried as her and Patty ran over. 

“No, no, no, no...” Erin muttered as she lay Holtzmann down on the ground. 

Patty knelt beside her fallen friend.

“Baby! Baby...” 

The engineer was lying on the cold concrete, breathing raggedly, clearly in agony.

Abby put her hand gently on her roasting forehead. She took this time to slowly remove the blonde’s yellow tinted glasses.

“Holtzmann? Sweetheart, can you hear me?”

The engineer coughed and took a shaky breath.

“...A-ab... Ab-“ She grimaced as the pain intensified. 

Patty grabbed her left hand and felt Hotzmann grip it tightly. Erin looked down at the haunted blue weapon protruding from her friend’s body. She took her other free hand before reaching for the shiv. But before she could get a hold of the weapon, it faded away.

Now that there wasn’t anything to stop the bleeding, blood rose and poured out from the wound. This sudden heat caused the engineer to yelp. Abby automatically put her hands on her friend’s injured abdomen and applied pressure. Holtzmann’s breath hitched as she whimpered in agony.

Erin and Patty could feel the grip on their hands tighten. They looked up and exchanged a heartbreaking look.

“W-what do we do?” Patty asked panicked.

Abby looked up and around the giant cellblock. 

“We need to get the door open. Is there ... like some sort of office or control room or something?”

Patty thought for a moment. “Yeah, there- there should be somethin’ that the guards would have had. Like a switch to initiate the lockdown... I can go...”

“Yeah, Patty! See if y-you can find the guards room...”

Abby was doing her best to form some sort of plan, but with one of her best friends writhing in pain in her arms that was proving to be a difficult task.

“I-I got this.” She gave Holtzmann’s hand one more squeeze as she stood up. “C’mon baby...”

As Patty went on her hunt, Erin noticed Holtzmann’s now free hand clench into a fist. She then raised one of her knees, doing anything to distract her from the pain.

“She’s in agony.” 

Abby continued to put pressure on the wound, blood covering both of her hands.

“I know... Med kit is back in the car.”

Erin glanced back up at Patty who was still in the big room, just further away.

“What about the guard’s office? There’s gotta be one there.”

Abby looked up at Erin then back down at Holtzmann.

Erin placed her free hand over Abby’s blood covered own. 

“I’ll be here.”

Abby nodded. “Let me take this off first.”

She knelt up and gestured to Erin to hold up the engineer. With a hand still applying pressure to her injured abdomen, they both managed to remove Holtzmann’s proton pack so that she could lie more comfortable, for lack of a better term. Erin and Abby both did the same.

Abby then opened the top of her suit enough that she could take one arm out of her sleeve. She ripped it completely off and handed it to Erin.

“Use this. I’ll be back hopefully with something to help til’ we get out of here.”

She gave Erin a knowing look before she let go of Holtzmann and stood up. “Hey, Patty! Wait up!”

Erin now had the sleeve against Holtzmann’s wound, soaking up the blood. Her other hand still grasping the engineer’s.

She watched as the blonde had quietened, but was still conscious and clearly in an immense amount of pain. Sweat poured down her forehead and she looked a little paler. She was getting worried.

“Holtz? It’s Erin. Can you hear me?”

The engineer’s eyes fluttered before slowly opening. 

The scientist smiled as much as the situation allowed.

“There you are.”

“H-here... I-I am...” Holtzmann faintly smiled, red showing through her teeth.

“I-t’s okay. I’m here. I’ve got you.”

Holtzmann closed her eyes again and her free hand shot up to her forehead as a sudden wave of pain rushed through her. The grip on the scientist tightened.

“G-god damn i-it...”

Erin leaned down. “Hey, hey. Look at me.”

Holtzmann eventually turned back to the red head and looked up at her, brow furrowed.

“At least I didn’t get slimed this time, eh?”

There was a silence as the engineer just blinked up at her.

“...Y-you’re c-cute when you tr-ry to distract... p-people from th-the immense pain th-they’re in...”

Erin knew it was ridiculous, but she felt her heart flutter a little. She shouldn’t be feeling this, not at a time like this. 

“E-Erin..”

She was snapped out of her thoughts and looked down at her broken friend.

“I-I’m cold...”

Oh no. This was bad. That meant that she was losing too much blood. She instinctively pushed down harder on Holtzmann’s stomach. When she heard her friend groan and saw her close her eyes tight, she knew that that maybe wasn’t the smartest move.

She looked around behind her. They were actually near a pillar, holding up one of the catwalks.

“Okay, hold on Holtz.”

She knew it would hurt her, but she took hold of her friend and slowly and as gently as she could, dragged her back towards the pillar. Once she was close enough, Erin sat against the concrete and gently laid Holtzmann back against her. The engineer’s head was resting against the scientist’s shoulder. She still had her hand on her stomach, applying pressure, but now at least the engineer had the scientist’s body heat as well.

Hopefully that was enough.


	2. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erin tries to comfort Holtzmann as Abby and Patty race to find pain relief and a way out.

This is the worst thing that could ever have happened. Somebody that she truly cared about was hurt, really badly. The large, imposing room was silent except for the shallow, ragged breaths of the now shivering engineer. 

Erin was doing her best to keep Holtzmann warm as she hugged her tight against her own body and swayed back and forward gently. She could feel the blonde shaking against her own ribcage. 

She leaned forward to get a look at Holtzmann. The engineer was staring hard at the ground. Erin smiled to herself. She was proud. If the situation was reversed she’d be a blubbering, squirming mess. Anybody would. 

“Y-you’ve a-a nice s-smile, G-Gilb-ert...”

She forgot, momentarily, that she was looking straight at the engineer.

“Huh? Oh, yes... well, um...”

“R-relax...” Holtzmann smiled. “...J-just a-an.. obser-vation-n...”

Under different circumstances, Erin would have kept the conversation around her smile and what the engineer thought of it, but she needed to tell her what she was thinking at this moment.

“Holtz, you are being ridiculously strong.“ 

Holtzmann closed her eyes for a moment as she breathed through the pain. The scientist continued.

“If it was any of us...”

“I-if it was... a-any of-f you I’d b-be... a m-mess...” She opened her eyes again, looking at Erin. “Y-you’re t-the... s-strong one...”

Erin felt her heart warm up, as she tightened her grip on her friend.

Holtzmann coughed. That cough turned into a series of coughs as the engineer leaned forward. Erin kept her hold on her stomach as she leaned forward too. She noticed a stream of crimson coming from the blonde’s mouth. This was very bad.

“I-it’s g-getting... h-harder... E-rin...”

“Holtz, I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

The engineer’s eyes became heavy as her head lulled forward.

“Don’t you dare, Holtz! You have to stay awake.” 

She gently shook Holtzmann, but the gentleness turned to desperation as it became clear that the blonde was out.

“Holtzmann! Damnit!” She confirmed that she was still breathing before looking up to where Patty and Abby had exited.

“C’mon guys, where are you?”

\--

“Where the hell is it?” Abby was jogging not far behind her friend.

“I don’t know man. It shouldn’t be far from the cell block.” Patty stopped at a junction and looked between two corridors.

“This way, come on!” She picked up the pace again. If this was any other situation she would be complaining about having to run, but her friend was counting on them.

They kept up the pace around another corner when they reached a door.

“This is it!”

They both entered the dark and crumbling room.

“Man, this place is grim as hell...”

“Alright look for like a panel... or a switch. I’ll look for a first aid box.”

Abby slowly made her way over to a big, dusty desk. There was nothing on it except for dust and a few old pens and pieces of paper. She would love to examine it, but now was most definitely not the time. So she opened one of the drawers. Luckily for them all, she saw a rusty box and could make out a cross symbol.

“Yes!” She reached in to grab it.

“You found one?” Patty called over her shoulder as she eventually saw a small panel on the wall.

At the same time, Abby placed the kit on the desk and opened it.

“I guess they needed to have easy access...” Abby peered inside. “Oh man...”

“What is it?” The historian made her way over to the scientist.

“I forgot how old this would be. A lot of these medicines are outdated and frowned upon in modern medicine. Look at this...”

She took out a bottle and read the label. “Ammonia; for fainting. Crush and hold near nose.”  


Patty reached in this time and pulled out a small vile. “Hey, we got some Aspirin. At least that could help with the pain... if we give her like... the whole bottle...”

Abby shook her head. “I don’t think so, Patty.” She continued to rummage through the tin.

“Well, at least we got some bandages, we can contain the bleeding until we get her to a hospi-“

“Abby...” The historian held up a vile and a syringe.

The scientist took the vile. “Morphine.”

“For relief of severe pain.” Patty read the vile. “Think our situation qualifies.”

“I don’t know. There’s a reason you can’t buy this over the count-“

“I can’t watch her like that, Abby.”

Abby took a moment and eventually looked back up at the historian and nodded. 

“Did you find anything?”

“Oh, yeah!” Patty made her way back over to the panel and pulled it open.

“This looks like it could be it."

She took hold of the switch and pulled it down as hard as she could.

Nothing happened.

“Damn it!”

Abby looked at the switch that looked like it hadn’t been touched in fifty years.

“He must have done it telepathically...”

Patty put her hands on her hips. “So what do we do?”

“There has to be another way-“

Before Abby could finish her thought they both heard a faint sound echoing through the corridor.

“You hear that?” Patty turned to where the sound came from.

Abby answered. “It sounded like...”

“Abby! Patty! Hurry!”

“Erin!” Abby grabbed all of the first aid supplies and threw them back in the box.

“We’re comin’ Erin!” Patty yelled and darted out the door, followed by Abby carrying the large rusted medical kit.

They both ran faster than they ever had before.


	3. Not Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pain is getting unbearable.

The historian and the scientist came rushing through the cavernous room where they left their two friends. Abby could see a trail of blood on the ground where they had previously been. Patty could hear what sounded like a panicked voice. Both followed their trails to find Erin cradling Holtzmann, who looked to be out cold.

“Erin.” Abby approached and set the box down beside them.

“Guys, guys it’s bad. I can’t w-wake her up.”

The engineer looked as white as the patched ghost on the arm of their overalls. There was a sheen of sweat on her forehead and the newly returned half of the team noticed the blood that still dripped from Holtzmann’s mouth.

“She looks...” Patty didn't finish her remark as she ran a hand through the blonde curls.

Abby opened the rusted box. 

“I hate to do this, but we have to keep her awake.”

She took out the vile of ammonia and double-checked that she was about to use it correctly.

“Smelling salts?” Erin inquired. 

With that, Abby cracked the vile and held it up to Holtzmann. It only took a few seconds for the engineer to stir and blink her eyes open. 

Patty took hold of both of her friend’s shoulders to steady her.

“Hey, baby. Welcome back.”

Holtzmann blinked one last time before her eyes stayed open. Her brow furrowed as she tried to focus on the faces looking down at her. 

“Wh...”

Abby gently placed her hand on her friend’s leg as she leaned forward slightly.

“Holtzmann, it’s okay. Do you remember what happened?”

It took a while, but the engineer slowly nodded as she bit her lip. The pain had obviously seeped back in. Erin could feel the smaller woman’s body tremble again.

Abby reached back into the box and took out the bandages. Erin smiled. Her own hand was getting sore from applying the pressure to Holtzmann’s stomach.

“Okay, we’re gonna need to open this.” Abby calmly instructed as she reached up to the engineer’s collar and took hold of the zip.

Erin let go of the wound and helped Abby gently unzip the overall. They had to peel it away from her soft skin, causing the blonde to whimper. Patty placed a reassuring palm up to Holtzmann’s cheek.

“Shhh, baby. This’ll stop the bleeding.”

Abby lifted up her tank top so that the wound was now accessible. 

She grimaced as she saw how nasty it looked. The shank was jagged and not completely sharp, so the wound was angry and messy. She could only imagine how much pain her younger friend was in.

“Okay, Erin. Just, um... hold this end while I wrap it around.”

Erin did as instructed by holding the fabric against the wound tightly. She tried to block out the sound of Holtzmann flinch. Abby reached behind and around as quickly, but carefully as she could, doing her best to apply as much pressure to stop the bleeding. As she was doing so, Patty was doing her best to comfort the blonde, getting her to focus on her own face and not passing out.

Once they had run out of material, Abby tied the end tight and Erin took her hand away. They zipped the overall back up to keep her warm and lied her down so her head was resting in Erin’s lap.

Abby looked down and only noticed now how much blood Holtzmann had lost. It covered both the engineer’s and Erin’s overalls and her own hands. She felt her stomach drop as she realised just how serious this was. 

Losing this much blood would make it harder to stay conscious. The longer they were in here the less likely Holtzmann would be able to wake up if she passed out again. They couldn’t let that happen again, but she couldn’t bare seeing her like this. They needed to get out now.

It was like as if Erin could read her mind as she spoke up.

“Any luck with the door?” 

Patty sat back on her heels.

“No, man. Switch is busted. Probably hasn’t worked in like fifty years.”

“Great...” Erin muttered frustratingly.

There was a pause before Patty stood and grabbed her proton pack from the ground and ran to the door. She aimed at the metal frame and fired. The door began to glow red as the historian continued to fire at the sealed exit. 

“C’mon!” 

After another few seconds she released the trigger and let out a long breath. All she could do was look at the steaming door that was still not open.

“Damnit! Didn’t even make a dent!”

She disappointingly discarded her pack and stomped over to the rest of team, dropping back to her knees.

“Well, I’m outta ideas...”

“A for effort, Patty.” Abby tried to reassure.

They sat in silence, thinking about their next move. Erin felt a shift on her lap as she peered down at the engineer.

“Y-you could... t-try-“

She began, but was interrupted by a shooting pain throughout her whole body. She gripped onto Erin’s hand and all the others could do was watch as Holtzmann’s eyes shut and she twisted to her side, burying her face in the scientist’s lap. She was crying from the pain.

Erin held the blonde’s head as she began to feel tears form in her own eyes. She looked up at Abby.

“Is there anything in there for the pain? This is torture.”

Patty looked over at the scientist as they shared a look, before she reached into the box and took out a syringe and another vile.

“What is that?” Erin asked as she held the engineer close.

Patty answered. “It’s morphine.”

“Oh. Um, oh...”

Abby let out a breath. “Look I know. It’s not-”

Erin interrupted. “Doesn’t morphine come in tablets now? How old is that thing?”

“I know. It’s dangerous. I mean, I don’t even know how much to... but she needs it. We can’t let her pass out so we need to be careful, but we can’t let her live through this pain. So this is our only option. Everyone agreed?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m down. Let’s do it.” Patty agreed.

Erin looked down at the writhing engineer then back up at Abby before eventually nodding.

“Okay.” 

Abby confirmed before Erin lowered down to Holtzmann.

“Holtz, I’m gonna need you to lie down straight, okay? We’re gonna give you something to help with the pain.”

Patty helped the scientist turn to lay the engineer on her back. Abby filled the syringe only to the first notch, which was 0.1mg.

“Do you think this is enough?”

The engineer tried to focus through blurred vision at what Abby was talking about. She eventually made out the sharp syringe. As soon as she did she flinched away.

“N-no... n-needle...” She turned back towards Erin, who in turn looked up at Abby.

“She doesn’t like needles?” she asked as he instinctively held the blonde to her.

“News to me!” Abby replied.

Patty spoke up. “Look, I’m sorry ladies, but we gotta do this either way!”

Erin agreed as they both held Holtzmann still, Erin by the shoulders and Patty by the knees. The engineer didn’t really put up much of a fight. She hadn’t the energy.

Abby pierced the skin on the blonde’s side and slowly pressed down on the syringe until the liquid disappeared.

“Good girl, Holtzy.” Patty smiled down at the engineer.

Abby sat back. “How long will it take to work?”

Erin released Holtzmann’s shoulders and placed her hands gently on her face, wiping her tears with her thumbs.

“God, I hope it’s soon.”


	4. Blast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pain is eased and the door needs to be opened.

“What do you think?” 

“How do we know?”

“She seems... calmer?”

“She ‘aint squirmin’ no more.”

“Can she hear us?”

There was a long groan as the engineer turned her head slowly towards the voices from above.

“...W-who’s she? The... cat’s m-mother?”

Blue eyes peered through heavy eyelids.

“N-never really got that ph...rase...”

“Holtz.” Erin beamed. “How do you feel?”

It took a few moments, but she replied.

“Uh... heavy?”

Abby took her hand.

“How’s the pain? Do you feel any better?”

Holtzmann turned to the other scientist and cleared her throat, the metallic taste of blood still present.

“I-It’s easier to... think n-now. What d-did you guys do?”

“We gave you morphine from a medical kit that looks like it’s from World War One.” Patty replied matter-of-fact.

Erin and Abby both shot her a stern glance.

The blonde closed her eyes momentarily before smiling and silently laughing.

“F-fantastic.”

She still looked pale and was dripping with sweat, but they were happy that she was calm and not in nearly as much pain as before. Abby smiled down at her and then looked back at the door.

“Alright, so blasting at the door didn’t work. We need a Plan B.”

Before Erin could answer she felt a tug against her leg. She looked down to see Holtzmann’s hand gripping her side-arm; the one she chose as her ‘little friend.’

“Hey, yeah! Maybe this’ll do the trick...”

She held up her gun while patting the blonde’s shoulder.

“Worth a shot, right?”

The scientist stood and approached the big, metal exit. She held up her pistol and pulled the trigger. A loud bang resonated through the cell block as a pulse of energy shot at the door.

It didn’t work.

“Oh, come on!” Erin exclaimed.

While Erin kicked at another pillar in frustration, it was Patty’s turn to mind the small engineer, who had her head resting on the historian’s outstretched leg. She had her arm held up to the ceiling and her hand was playfully tracing the letters on Patty’s necklace. She seemed to be in her own world. Neither Patty nor Abby dared disturb her.

“She looks like a child.” Patty observed as she ran her fingers through the blonde curls.

Abby smiled as she watched and thought back through the time she’d known the younger engineer.

“I’ve always thought of her as my little sister.” She didn’t take her eyes off of Holtzmann.

Patty glanced up at Abby. “Yeah, I can see why. I just feel like...” She looked back down at the blonde on her lap. “...I feel like I need to protect her, or somethin’, y’know?”

The scientist, still with her gaze locked on the engineer, took this time to place a soothing hand on her leg.

“And this time that didn’t work out so good.” The historian finished.

“Patty,” Abby finally broke her gaze and looked up at her reassuringly. “,this was just one of those things. None of us even knew she was hurt when it happened. So it’s nobody’s fault, but that jackass of a ghost, okay?”

Patty smiled and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

“Screw you.”

Abby and Patty suddenly looked down at the engineer who was now fully focused at them both, still clutching Patty’s necklace.

“Um, Holtzy?” 

With her free hand, the blonde slowly reached up to her neck and held out her own necklace.

“M-mine’s more fun.” She smiled up at them. 

Patty began to giggle as she looked over at Abby, who was doing same.

“Oh, Holtzy, man. Don’t you ever change!”

They shared a laugh as Holtzmann returned her necklace to rest on her bloody skin.

“I-I love you g-guys too, but I can t-take care of... myself. I d-don’t need protectin’.”

“Clearly.” Abby remarked sarcastically, but lightly as she gestured to her friend’s stomach.

Erin returned to them and knelt down.

“L-love you too, G-Gilbert. J-just want you... to k-know” Holtzmann said as she placed a shaky hand on the scientist’s knee.

Erin felt her heart skip a beat as she looked questioningly at Abby.

“We were getting sentimental.” She explained.

“Oh, okay. Um... I love you too, Holtz.” She placed her own hand over the engineer’s.

It felt strange saying that so casually. She was not one to say that often, but she felt that she really did mean it this time. Before her mind could wander she remembered what she was going to say.

“Holtz, before you... before we had to shoot you up, man that sounded weird, you were going to suggest something. Do you remember what it was?”

There was a silence as the blonde tried to remember what was going on before the pain took over.

“I c-can’t remember... What were you d-doing?”

Erin looked uneasily at Abby. Memory loss wasn't good. 

“I tried to shoot the stream at the door, but nothin’ happened.” Patty answered.

“Um...” Holtzmann thought. Erin tried to help.

“And I just tried to use my cannon like you suggested, but same as before. Door didn’t even dent.”

“The door did glow from the proton stream when Patty was shooting though.” Abby added.

Holtzmann shifted before clearing her throat.

“W-why not try both?”

“What do you mean?”

The engineer closed her eyes for a moment before continuing.

“P-proton pack... plus cannon e-equals...”

“Freedom baby!” Patty exclaimed excitedly before standing up and grabbing her pack.

She carried it over to the sealed door and leaned it up against the metal. She stepped to the side of the door and looked back towards her friends.

“Ready, Erin?” she called.

By the time she had the pack ready in place, the scientist had her cannon charged and aimed.

“Do you think it’ll create enough energy?” Abby asked Holtzmann who was now in her lap, as she looked up at the door.

It took longer than she thought, but the engineer did reply.

“...sh-should...”

The scientist looked down at the blonde.

“Holtzmann?”

The engineer’s eyes were almost closed all the way and there was blood dripping from her nose.

Abby was momentarily at a loss of what to do.

“Uh, g-guys.”

She called to them, but was drowned out by Erin.

“Here we go!”

She pulled the trigger and a burst of energy raced towards the door, colliding with the proton pack. A bright light suddenly exploded and a blast wave ricocheted throughout the large hallway.

Then there was suddenly silence.

The smoke cleared.

"Oh, hell yeah!"


	5. Waiting Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All they can do now is wait.

Patty was in full mama bear mode. She cradled Holtzmann close to her body as she ran through the newly created exit and towards the ECTO-1. She sat in the back with the now unconscious engineer who had just started bleeding from her nose. How could it have gotten any worse than before?

Abby was the one who drove at the times when the blonde wasn’t available. She wasn’t as smart a driver as her friend – she didn’t know the shortcuts or how to weave in and out of the New York traffic so the journey to the hospital took an extra five minutes. All the way, Erin sat in the passenger seat holding on to the Holtzmann’s hand, saddened and worried now that it wasn’t gripping back.

Once they arrived Patty again carried Holtzmann through the automatic doors and yelled.

“Help! We got a messed up engineer over here!”

As soon as the receptionist saw the uniforms and recognized them from television she called on a red phone and came running. Soon she was joined by a team of doctors and nurses who wheeled a stretcher to them and had Patty lay her down before whisking her off.

The rest of the team followed alongside.

“What happened?” asked the doctor holding the side of the stretcher.

“She was stabbed.” Erin replied.

“Yeah, but we were stuck for a good hour before we could make it over here. Her nose started bleeding and she passed out.” Abby added, doing her best to give the doctor as much information as possible.

As the gang approached a set of double doors the doctor turned to them.

“You need to wait here.”

“But-“ Patty started, but gave up when they all disappeared through the doors and the chaos was silenced.

“Damn.” She continued as she spun on her heel and clapped a fist into her palm.

“Well...” Abby ran a hand through her damp hair. “I guess now all we can do is wait.”

Erin was standing, leaning against the wall holding the bridge of her nose trying her best not to think about anything really. This was the worst part. Worse than being back in that prison. At least back there she was able to hold the engineer and know she was right there. Now, she was taken away from them. Off with strangers. Deep down, she knew that this was where they needed to be an hour ago, but considering everything the four of them had been through, Erin felt responsible for her friends.

She slowly raised her head and looked up at Patty who was pacing up and down the corridor. She then glanced at Abby who had her hands folded and appeared to be chewing her nails, looking immensely worried. She then looked down at herself. Her jumpsuit was stained red. She looked at her hands which were also covered in dry blood. Patty had spatters of blood on her jumpsuit as well as her chest and necklace where the engineer had been playing with it. Abby was worse. She had a mass of deep red on her lap from where the blonde had been lying and her hand and sleeves were pure red from where she had been pressing down on the engineer’s wound initially.

But what hit Erin the hardest was seeing the team’s logo tinted red; tinted by blood; Holtzmann’s blood.

“We took too long.” The scientist muttered quietly.

“Don’t say that, Erin.” Abby replied.

“We did. We- We should have figured it out sooner.”

Abby stepped closer. “We got her here as fast as we could. There’s nothing else we could’ve done.”

It was like as if Erin hadn’t heard what her friend just said.

“God, I never saw so much blood before. I mean- It was everywhere...”

Patty approached now, sensing that Erin was starting to panic.

Abby took another step towards the other scientist and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Erin, Holtzmann is with doctors now. Alright, sweetie? They’re gonna make sure she’s okay.”

She gave a knowing look up to Patty. Of course, Abby had no idea that everything was going to be okay. She was terrified. But Erin needed reassurance right now.

Patty reached her two friends.

“You know Holtzy. She’s a lil’ badass. Did you see her in Times Square? ‘Aint to way she’s gonna let some lonely prison ghost take her down.”

Patty was doing her best to sound reassuring, but deep down she was the same as Abby, absolutely terrified.

Erin looked up at them both with watery eyes. She looked between them for a few moments before leaping into Abby’s arms. She began to cry as Abby placed a hand on the back of her head.

“We’re not gonna lose her, okay? She’s gonna be fine.”

Patty enveloped them both in her own arms and joined the embrace. She felt tears trickle down her cheek and saw that Abby was the same.

They stayed like this until Erin had calmed down.

\--

It had been five hours. The three Ghostbusters had moved to the private waiting room so that they wouldn’t be approached by fans or curious bystanders. Erin had fallen asleep against Abby’s shoulder and Patty had just brought back some sandwiches from the cafeteria.

She sat down and switched on the television, trying to do anything to make the wait less agonizing.

She flicked through the channels before stopping on the news.

“...during the Ghostbusters latest outing. We have reports that the youngest member of the group; Dr. Jillian Holtzmann was injured during the bust and is now in New York-Presbyterian Hospital. We do not know yet the condition of the engineer, but we will be sure to keep you updated in the coming-“

Patty shut off the television.

“How do they even... man...”

Erin was now awake as she rubbed her eyes.

Just then, the doctor walked in. He gave them all a smile and nod.

“Good morning. I hope you’ve been able to get yourselves comfortable during the wait.”

“How is she?” Abby asked right away.

The doctor looked down for a moment before flipping through his chart.

“Look, I’m not going to sugar coat this for you guys. When you brought Ms. Holtzmann in, she was in a bad way.”

Abby’s heart sank. Patty closed her eyes for a second and Erin didn’t move.

“The wound had become infected and she was running a fever of 105. She had already lost a lot of blood so we gave her a transfusion, which thankfully has been successful so far.”

Okay, that was something positive.

The doctor looked back down at his chart.

“Oh, there was one thing. We found traces of morphine in her system. Do you know-“

“We found it in the prison.” Abby interrupted.

“In the prison?” The doctor repeated as he took this moment to sit next to them.

“We were at the old prison on Ellis Island when Holtz was stabbed.” Erin stated.

“Yeah and while we were there it went into lockdown.” Patty added.

Abby nodded as she continued. “She was in too much pain so we found an old first aid box and that’s what was in it.”

“I see.” The doctor remarked. 

“Is that why her nose was bleeding?” Erin asked.

“Yes that seems the most likely.” 

He wrote something down in his chart.

“That certainly makes things a lot clearer.”

“So, is she gonna be okay?” Patty asked.

“Well, we have her on antibiotics to fight the infection in her abdomen. We’ve managed to get her fever down to a reasonable level. Her blood levels are steadying so that’s encouraging.”

“And what about the nosebleed, is that- is that bad?” The historian interrupted.

“Well, because the morphine was only trace amounts; less than 0.1mg, it seems the nose bleed was just a side effect. It’s lucky she wasn’t allergic.”

He closed his chart and looked back up at them.

“It’s looking good.” He smiled at them.

A sigh of relief was heard between them. Erin felt like a tonne of bricks had been lifted from her shoulders. They hugged each other like before, only this time the tears were happy.

The doctor stood up and took hold of the door handle.

“By the way... Do you know who stabbed her?"

Abby, Erin and Patty looked up at him. They hesitated

"A ghost..." Patty replied quietly.

"Look, I was in the city that night the sky went- the night it went green and... well, I think what you did was amazing. And I'm glad Dr. Holtzmann is okay.”

Abby beamed as she took her two friend’s hands in hers.

“Well, thank you very much, doc. For everything. We appreciate it.”

He smiled back at them.

“It’s Steve.”

“Thank you Steve.” Erin grinned.

“Would you like to see her?”


	6. Wound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtzmann wakes up and realizes what happened.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The repeating noises got louder as the girls slowly entered the room housing their fallen friend. They could see the heart monitor with that familiar green fluctuating line that’s always on those hospital dramas. They could see a stand holding a drip which was giving their friend the antibiotic to fight the infected stab wound that they had been scrambling to keep at bay only hours ago.

The three of them approached the bed. Holtzmann looked tiny. Her blonde hair still managed to stay in that unique tangled mess on top of her head. Hey eyes were closed, but they could see they were darker than usual. She was still recovering from the blood loss so the colour was slowly beginning to return to her skin. The blood had been cleaned from her arms and from where she had touched her own face during her struggle in the prison.

Overall, she did look a lot better, just not her vibrant self.

“Well, here she is. Our Holtzy.” Patty confirmed as she rested her hand on top of the engineer’s.

Abby reached down to brush a stray strand of hair from her face.

“She looks better,” She looked to the other scientist “, right?”

She could tell Erin was extremely worried, even now having Holtzmann right in front of them. So she was doing her best to comfort her in the way that only Abby could.

Erin gently hovered her hand over the engineer’s stomach, where the wound would be. She took a moment, then she let her hand ever so slightly rest over the soft fabric of the hospital gown. It was in complete contrast to back at the prison. Where she had been pressing as hard as she could to stop the infectious wound bleeding out, now she just held her hand there to sooth herself. 

She eventually looked back up at Abby and smiled. 

They stayed with Holtzmann for another hour before Abby looked at the clock.

“Hey guys, maybe we should think about heading back to the firehouse, get a shower and some clean clothes.”

Patty agreed. “Yeah and some breakfast. I’m starvin’.”

“We can’t leave her. What if she wakes up and nobody's here?” Erin added.

Abby rubbed the back of her head, thinking.

“Alright, Erin you’re the worst out of all of us. You need to take a shower.”

She was referencing how much blood was soaked into Erin’s overalls. She was right.

Abby continued. “I’ll stay in case she wakes up. Deal?”

Her friend put her hands on her hips. “You’re right. Okay.”

“We’ll bring you back some clean clothes and somethin’ to eat.” Patty patted her shoulder before looking down and doing the same to the still unconscious engineer.

“Be back in a bit, baby girl.”

“I’ll call you if she wakes up.” Abby reassured Erin who smiled in return.

“Thanks, Abby. We won’t be long.”

The two left the room. Abby turned back to the engineer and was shocked to see that she was looking back at her.

“Holtzmann!” she exclaimed as she returned to the seat beside her bed. 

“Hello there.” The blonde replied smiling.

“H- How long were you awake? You were just-“ 

“A few minutes. Only way they would leave.”

“But they’re worried about you. We all are. I’ll call them back.”

Abby went to stand, but Holtzmann weakly grabbed her wrist.

“No, don’t.”

“Holtz-“ Abby started.

“Abby.” She interrupted, looking more serious than Abby had seen her in a while.

“Just because I’m in here doesn’t mean you can stop looking after yourselves.”

Abby sighed slowly. “They went to get fresh clothes and some breakfast.”

“And you?” The engineer stared unmoving.

“I’m staying here until they get back.”

Holtzmann chuckled slightly. “Have you looked in the mirror?”

Abby surveyed her own appearance, knowing full well what she looked like.

“This is your blood, Holtz.” She said seriously, looking back up at the blonde who blinked back at her, momentarily caught off guard at her friend’s tone.

Holtzmann knew it was her own blood, which had now been replaced. She knew how bad of a state she was in. She knew she almost died. But her way of dealing with serious situations was to be as casual about it as possible. Only this time, Abby wouldn’t let her.

“You need to understand how serious this is, Holtzmann. I know what you went through was horrifying and I can’t even imagine what it felt like for you...”

She took this moment to take the engineer’s hand and hold it to her own chest.

“...But you need to understand that we had to watch you go through it. We had to hold your stomach together to stop you from bleeding out. We had to desperately search for something, anything to help with your pain...”

Holtzmann could see the scientist’s eyes become watery.

“...And we had to inject you with morphine when the pain became too much...”

“You injected me with morphine?” The blonde asked, deadpan.

“Oh, shut up Holtz. The point is that we were feeling your pain, just not in the same way.”

There was a silence as the blonde took time to process everything that she had just been told. Once the pain had taken over she found that it was harder to remember what was happening and she didn’t remember a lot. She gulped before slowly looking back up at her friend.

“Could you- Could you at least wash your face? So I don’t have to look... Please...”

Holtzmann was starting to get a little overwhelmed and Abby could see this so she put her palm up against her warm cheek and smiled reassuringly.

“You got it.”

With that, Abby stood up and went into the bathroom on the opposite side of the room. She watched in the mirror as she ran the water through her hands and splashed her face. She saw the blood mix with the water as it dripped back down into the sink. It was like as if she was letting the memory of what happened wash away with the blood. She knew the memory would never fade. Some things will stay with you just as vivid as when they first happened, but she could always hope.

Once her face and hands were clean she returned to her smaller friend and sat back down beside her.

“Thanks.” Holtzmann said as she smiled weakly. Abby felt her heart break as her friend looked so small and young.

“Are you okay?” Abby asked.

“Yeah.” Holtzmann was going to keep up with her usual bravado, but it faltered.

“I will be.” 

Abby nodded, not wanting to make her feel obligated to talk.

“How’re the guys?”

“Well, Patty is Patty, y’know? Of course, she’s worried sick about you, but she’s been extremely positive through the whole thing, which is what we all needed honestly.”

Holtzmann smiled. “That’s my girl.”

There was a pause.

“And Erin?”

There was another pause.

“That bad, huh?” Holtzmann herself eventually filled the silence.

“Well, she was with you for all of it. When me and Patty were looking for the med kit she stayed with you. Do you remember?”

Holtzmann thought. "Vaguely."

“It’s just gonna take her some time.” Abby added.

“Okay.”

The scientist squeezed her hand gently.

“Abby?” 

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

\--

It was another little while until Erin and Patty returned. Once they saw that Holtzmann was awake, Patty ran over and hugged her, forgetting momentarily that she was injured and squeezed her a little too tightly.

“Oh God, baby my bad!”

Holtzmann chuckled. “No worries, Patty. I needed one of your bear hugs.”

She looked over to Erin who was still in the door frame.

“What are you just standing there for? Get over here!” Holtzmann hammed it up as she kept what Abby said in the back of her mind. 

She held open her arms and as soon as the scientist reached her, she enveloped her as tightly as her wound would allow. After a while she pulled away, but held onto Erin’s shoulders.

“Hey, look at me.”

Erin did so, with glassy eyes.

“I’m alright.”

She reassured and shot the scientist one of her mesmerizing winks.

Erin could only laugh as Patty clapped her hands together.

“She back baby. Holtzy is back!”

“Yeah she is!” Abby added excitedly.

The engineer grinned and lay back in her own hands.

“So when can I get outta here?”

\--

A week later was her answer. The antibiotics had done what they were supposed to do. The wound was healing. All Holtzmann had to do was change the bandage twice a day and take it easy for a while. And certainly no Ghostbusting for at least a month.

They managed to avoid all of the reporters by going out the side exit of the hospital. Neither of them were in the mood to pander to the cameras and microphones. Steve had helped them and let them all know that he wished them well. They were really grateful to him and Holtzmann gave him a high-five. It made his day.

So they arrived back at the firehouse. The engineer slowly stepped out of the ECTO-1 and looked up at the sign. 

“It’s good to be home.” She said to herself, but Erin heard her and smiled.

As they entered the building Kevin appeared and grabbed the small engineer in a side hug.

“Welcome back boss!” He yelled as he swung her from side to side.

“Woah! Careful there, big guy.”

He put her down and straightened his shirt.

“Hey, Kev. Good to be back.”

“I got you a present, boss.”

Kevin ran over behind his desk and took out a long box with a bow tied around it. He returned and handed it to Holtzmann.

She opened it and took out an extra long pipe. She gasped theatrically.

“I noticed you always bring back different sized pipes with you so I went out searching and found this one.”

“Oh, Kev. This is perfect!” She proclaimed, genuinely excited. It made everyone else smile and get that warm fuzzy feeling.

“I’m gonna make you your very own proton shotgun!” Holtzmann grinned at him.

“Wow! Thanks, boss!” Kevin beamed. Erin and Patty shot eachother a worried glance at the thought of Kevin with a shotgun. Holtzmann caught their look and leaned over to them.

"I'll load it with blanks..."

Patty entered and locked the door behind her. It was after six and they promised Holtzmann they’d all stay the night. After they all got settled they ordered Chinese which Benny delivered and welcomed Holtzmann back. 

They were up late talking and joking around, telling funny stories, just having fun. It was like as if last week hadn’t happened. Almost.

Throughout the night Erin had been keeping a close eye on the engineer. She seemed to be okay until she shifted in her seat on the couch and winced a little. Patty and Abby hadn’t noticed because they were laughing so much.

Holtzmann stood up and headed for the make-shift kitchen area. Abby saw and glanced over at Erin, who nodded and stood up to follow the blonde.

Erin made her way around the corner and saw Holtzmann standing there with the hem of her tank-top in her teeth, trying to find where the bandage that was wrapped around her stomach began.

She caught sight of the scientist watching her.

“Little help?” She mumbled through the fabric.

“Oh, yeah. Sure.” Erin replied flustered and joined her friend.

Holtzmann could now hold her vest up with her hands as Erin began to unravel the bandages, reaching her hands around the engineer’s body in a slow rhythm.

The blonde watched the scientist concentrate. She felt her mouth curve into a smile as Erin’s tongue stuck out the side of her mouth comically as she was focused. Once she got to the end of the bandage Erin felt a bit of resistance from where the fabric had become stuck to the healing would.

She looked up at Holtzmann.

“This might hurt a little.”

Holtzmann was just looking back at her with those blue eyes. 

Erin pulled the bandage forcefully and the engineer’s expression remained the same.

“...Or not.” Erin remarked, feeling those blue eyes still on her.

She discarded the bandages and took out a bottle of disinfectant. She poured some onto some cotton and with her free hand held onto Holtzmann’s side. She was soft and warm. She liked how she felt.

“This is gonna hurt.” This time it was Holtzmann who spoke.

“Ready?” Erin asked.

“Mhmm.” The engineer closed her eyes and nodded.

The scientist pressed the cotton on the wound. Holtzmann grimaced and placed one of her hands onto Erin’s shoulder, holding tight. Erin felt her body heat up, but she continued to clean the wound knowing the sooner it was over with the better.

“All done.” Erin smiled.

Holtzmann opened her eyes and smiled back at her. 

Erin discarded the cotton and took out a fresh bandage. She unwound the first end and held it up to Holtzmann’s stomach. The engineer reached down and took it from her, pressing it against the wound herself. Erin wordlessly continued to wrap the fabric around the blonde’s body with both hands. She thought back to when she and Abby had done the same back in the prison; messy, painful, dangerous. It was so different to now; clean, controlled, safe.

She reached around the engineer’s body one more time and tied the front with just the right amount of pressure. She patted it with her hand and smiled.

“There.”

She looked at Holtzmann who was looking right back. They stayed like this for a moment before the blonde reached forward and hooked her arms around Erin’s neck, hugging her tight.

The scientist was taken aback at first, but she soon leaned forward herself and wrapped her arms around the engineer as tightly as she could without hurting her.

“Thank you.” Holtzmann said into Erin’s neck. “For everything.”

This made Erin hug tighter as she felt her eyes begin to water.

“I know you’d do the same.” She replied through a smile.

They both eventually pulled away, but still had a grip on each other.

“Just promise me one thing.” The engineer said.

Erin nodded. “Of course.”

“You’ll help me change this bad boy every time.”

Holtzmann added as she mimicked Erin’s action earlier by patting her own stomach over the bandage.

Erin beamed.

“You got it.”

“Great.” The engineer grinned, hooking an arm around the scientist’s neck as they both made their way back to the others.


	7. Reset

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtzmann healing. Business as usual, as much as it can be.

It had been a month since Holtzmann had returned from the hospital. The doctor told her she had to rest for the entire month. She had replied to being told this by nodding exaggeratedly and smiling, planning not to rest at all and go straight back out in the field. Of course, it took the rest of her team to sit her down and scold her like a child in trouble for her to realise the reality.

So if they received a call only two of them would go. They still didn't feel right leaving her alone. She assured them she would be fine and that she had Kevin, but having Kevin was like having nobody at all, despite how much he tried to help.

At the end of the month when Holtzmann and Erin had mastered the art of changing the bandage they noticed it looked as if it was almost healed. The engineer would have a scar, but it didn't bother her in the slightest.

"Lookin good, Holtz." Erin remarked as she finished wrapping the material around the blonde.

"Thanks, babe. Now what about the scar?"

The scientist shot her a look only to be met with another of Holtzmann's mesmerising winks.

She felt the need to say something witty in response as she seemed to never have the upper hand when talking with Holtzmann, but just as she opened her mouth Patty slid in the door.

"We got a Class 4 Downtown." She informed her teammates, only really intending for Erin.

The scientist turned to the engineer, silently asking.

Holtzmann raised her eyebrows and threw up her arms.

"It's been a month..." She held up her watch. "...now."

Patty smiled and lightly slapped her palm against the door frame she was standing in.

"Adda girl! Let's go!"

Erin patted Holtzmann's shoulder as they all headed down to get geared up. Abby soon joined them.

Once they were good they all reached the ECTO-1. Abby put her hand on Holtzmann's shoulder.

"Ready?"

The engineer looked down and playfully patted her stomach before reaching up and pulling her yellow goggles down over her eyes.

"Let's go."


End file.
